Japanese Destroyer Arashi - Service - Midway

Midway

The Japanese Destroyer Arashi is most famous for its involvement in the Battle of Midway in which it stalked USS Nautilus. The Destroyer was alerted to the presence of Nautilus when a Japanese Zero Fighter dived and fired machine guns on the Nautilus when it attempted to rise to periscope depth. Arashi spotted the encounter and began to drop depth charges. The Japanese Task force changed course but the Arashi continued to stalk Nautilus. Later in the battle, two squadrons of dive bombers from Enterprise searching for the Japanese Task Force spotted this destroyer making great speed to the north. Having kept Nautilus down long enough that she no longer was a threat, the captain of the Arashi had moved off and was attempting to regain the Japanese carrier force. The ships speed and direction acted as a direction arrow, guiding the squadrons to the Japanese carriers. Meanwhile, Japanese fighter aircraft protecting the carriers had been pulled away as they all attempted to engage an incoming torpedo attack from Hornet's VT-8 torpedo squad. At the moment of decision, the Japanese carriers were essentially without air cover. This made for an uncontested approach for the American dive bombers. The Enterprise dive bombers happened to arrive over the Japanese carriers Kaga and Akagi unimpeded, scoring multiple hits on Kaga and a single hit on Akagi that doomed both ships.

During the battle the Arashi is known to have picked up one of the downed airman from the Yorktown. He was Ens. Wesley Osmus, one of the TBD pilots of VT-3. Osmus was flying the last plane in VT-3s formation, and thus was first to be attacked and destroyed as they made their approach. Osmus was picked up later on 4 June and buried 5 June. He was made to provide the Japanese with a general description of the make-up of the force they had been fighting against, the only clear description the Japanese obtained. He was said to have died the day following his recovery and was buried at sea. In truth he had been taken to the stern of Arashi and struck in the back of the neck with a fire axe. He clung briefly to the railing, and then was pushed overboard into the sea. Among other facts learned, the Japanese report indicated the pilot had been from Chicago.

After the war when the fate of Ens. Osmus was learned, an attempt was made to find the captain of the Arashi and try him for war crimes, but it was learned that he had died later in the conflict, and the matter was set aside.